Two Cards
by MyQuantumTheory
Summary: It's Mother's Day and Jack has made two cards at school. Hotch/Emily established relationship.


**Author's note: Hi! I'm not quite sure where this came from, but I like how it turned out. A little oneshot about Jack's mother's day cards.**

* * *

Hotch leaned around the kitchen door. "How are you doing with your homework, buddy?"  
"Okay," Jack said, without looking up.

"Hmm, are you sure? That doesn't sound like a happy voice." Hotch came in and sat opposite him at the table. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Jack looked up, his eyes too grown up on his little seven-year-old face. "It's mother's day soon."

"Oh," Hotch said. "It is." He felt the familiar guilt start to creep inside him, from his stomach to his throat, where it formed a lump that refused to disperse. He coughed a little before saying, "Is something happening in school for mother's day?"

"We had to make cards today," Jack said, chewing his lip.

Hotch nodded slowly. "And did you make one?" he asked. Jack's teacher knew Haley was gone – she must have said or done something about it, she couldn't have just handed his little boy art supplies and told him to make a card for his dead mother…

"I made two," Jack said guiltily. "Miss Adams said I didn't have to make any but I could make one for mommy if I wanted and you could take me to give it to her."

Hotch nodded again. "We can do that. We could buy some flowers and a candle, if you like."

"Yeah," Jack said. "And…" He trailed off and dropped his eyes back to his paper, his little fists on his cheeks holding his head up.

"Hey," Hotch said softly. "You want a hug?"

Jack nodded, and came around the table and wrapped his arms around Hotch's neck. He mumbled something else that Hotch didn't quite catch. "What was that?"

Jack stood back a little and Hotch held him by the shoulders. He looked down at his feet guiltily, and then up at Hotch through his eyelashes. "AndImadeoneforEmily," he mumbled.

That did nothing for the lump in Hotch's throat. He swallowed hard and smiled. "Jack, that's great," he said. "If you want to give it to her, she'd love that. You don't have to look so guilty about it."

"Yeah?" Jack said.

Hotch nodded. "Definitely."

"It's just that… Well Evan was making two cards because he has two moms, and Lori was making two cards because she has a mom and a stepmom. And I didn't know what a stepmom was and I asked her and she said that it's the lady her daddy loves now and she lives with him and they do stuff together when she stays with her daddy on weekends like watch movies and have dinner and go to the zoo all three of them. And I thought that was kinda like Emily so I did two cards too, but I didn't know if it was the same because Lori still has her mom and I don't have my mom anymore so I didn't know if it was okay to do two or -"

Hotch laughed despite the growing ache of guilt and sadness – Jack really could talk when he got on a roll. "Relax buddy," he said. "If you want to give Emily a card then it is absolutely okay to do that. We can go and get her a present too, if you want."

Jack nodded, smiling shyly. "She's like my stepmom right?"

"Yeah, if you want her to be, I think she'd like that a lot."

* * *

"You want to talk to mom alone first?" Hotch asked as he and Jack walked hand in hand through the cemetery. Jack nodded, clutching Haley's card and flowers close to his chest. "Okay. I'll be right here on this bench. Just let me know when you're ready."

Jack nodded and walked toward Haley's headstone. Hotch sat down and watched him, smiling sadly. They didn't come here often, because he didn't like to encourage the idea that they had to be here to talk to Haley. That way Jack could talk to her whenever he wanted. But when Jack wanted to give her something, they brought it here, and then Hotch would come back alone the next time he got the chance and clear it away, so it didn't ever look old and abandoned – nothing said 'I'm not here anymore' quite like weather-soaked, abandoned gifts, and he never wanted Jack to associate that with his mother.

Jack was sitting cross-legged in front of the headstone now. He dug the flowers out of the bag and laid them gently on the ground. He talked for a little bit, then got out the card. He placed it down with the flowers first, then picked it back up, took it out of the envelope and read it aloud. Hotch blinked rapidly and looked away, trying to get a hold of himself before Jack turned back to him. When he looked back, Jack was turning toward him, still sitting on the ground. "Ready dad," he called.

Hotch took a deep breath and walked over to join Jack. He sat down beside him on the ground, and Jack knelt up and wrapped his arms around his father's neck. Hotch held him tight. "You gave mom your card?" Jack nodded. "Good job."

Jack turned around to sit in Hotch's lap. He didn't do that much anymore in any other situation. Hotch got a candle and match out of his pocket. Jack set the candle down carefully and Hotch lit it and just watched it burn for a while, holding Jack, feeling nothing and everything. He glanced covertly at the inside of the card Jack had propped open in front of the headstone – 'Dear Mommy, I love you and I wish you were here, Jack', and then he'd filled the bottom of the page with kisses. He swallowed hard. "Keep an eye on Jack for me," he said softly, much more for Jack's benefit than his own. He didn't believe Haley could hear him. She was gone. But Jack would make his own decisions about that when he was old enough to understand, and for now it helped him to feel that his mother loved him.

"And an eye on daddy," Jack added.

"Of course."

"And Emily."

Hotch couldn't say anything to that – he just held Jack a little tighter.

"I told mommy that I made another card for Emily," Jack said. "I told her about it being okay to make two cards because of two moms and stepmoms."

"I think she'd think that was a good idea," Hotch said. "What do you think?"

Jack nodded confidently and Hotch smiled and kissed the top of his head. "Bye mommy, love you," Jack whispered, then leaned forward and blew out the candle.

* * *

"Okay buddy, you ready?" Hotch whispered, standing outside the front door. They were going to surprise Emily – he'd told her they were going to the cemetery with a card for Haley but he hadn't mentioned that Jack had made a second card.

"Ready," Jack whispered back, giggling a little with anticipation. He liked surprises, usually, and this was the good kind because there were presents. He held the little gift bag with both hands, the card tucked under his arm for safekeeping.

"Okay. The plan is in action." Hotch rang the doorbell and Jack giggled again – it was funny to ring the bell to your own house.

As soon as the door opened, Jack said, "Special delivery!" then collapsed in giggles again.

Emily bit the inside of her cheek, suppressing a laugh. "Well then you better come on in," she said, stepping back and making a big show of graciously welcoming them into their home.

They came inside, Hotch giving her a quick kiss on the cheek as she closed the door. She gave him a questioning look and he nodded toward Jack, who was looking up at her shyly. She crouched down, smiling, and said, "Where do I sign for my delivery?"

"Happy mother's day," he said, and held out the card and gift bag.

Taken completely by surprise, she took them, her eyes wide. "Thank you, Jack!" she said, with a tearful smile. She pulled him into a hug, kissing his cheek, and he wrapped his arms around her neck. She wiped a couple of stray tears from her cheeks so he didn't see, and then let go of him. "Come on, let's go open it."

As she stood up and took Jack's hand, she met Hotch's eyes for a second and he wanted to grab her and hold her forever – the emotion he saw in her face looked uncannily like the sweeping, swelling something he felt in his chest as he watched them, and it was beautiful. He followed them to the living room – Emily sat down cross-legged on the floor and Jack followed. Hotch sat back on the sofa, not wanting to intrude on their moment.

"Card first?" she asked, and Jack nodded, still smiling shyly. "Sergio got your tongue, sweetheart?" she asked, ruffling his hair. He laughed and stuck his tongue out. She grinned, and opened the envelope. Her heart melted again. In his big, careful handwriting he'd written 'Happy Mother's Day Emily', and drawn three stick people holding hands, labelled 'Jack', 'Dad' and 'Emily'. He'd drawn a heart above her head. She blinked hard, trying to make her trembling lips keep smiling as she opened it, and then she was gone all over again – on the inside it said 'Dear Emily, I love you and I'm glad you're here, Jack', with lots of kisses of various shapes and sizes. "I'm glad I'm here too," she said softly, doing her best to keep the tears at bay. One escaped, but Jack didn't mention it.

"Present now," he said, bouncing a little, pointing to the gift bag. "I chose it."

She pulled it toward her and peered inside, then took out the little box. She glanced at Jack, who was leaning forward eagerly, and then opened it. There was no holding back the tears now – it was a delicate silver locket on a chain, and when she opened it there was a photograph of Jack on one side and Hotch on the other, their matching eyes looking happily up at her. The overwhelming, unfamiliar feeling of _family_ crashed over her quite suddenly and she pulled Jack forward for another hug, partly so he didn't see her face as she lost it entirely. "I love it, Jack," she whispered. "Thank you."

Hotch joined them on the floor, wrapping his arms around both of them, and Emily leaned gratefully into him. He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her arm. "You know I love you both, right?"

"Right!" Jack said cheerfully, sitting back. He tilted his head, taking in Emily's smiling, tear-stained face as Hotch wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, her back against his chest. "You're happy?" he said uncertainly.

She laughed, ruffling his hair again. "Definitely happy. Thank you. I love you. Both. A lot."

Then Jack was happy too. He was glad he made two cards.

* * *

**I hope you liked it :) Reviews would be good - this is my first oneshot so I'd love to hear what you think!**


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